Most businesses and C-Suite occupants think they truly understand their customers. We typically find that many of these business leaders also believe they provide an optimal experience for their consumers.

This is rarely the case, and it appears we are not alone in encountering this issue.

In a survey of customers and businesses, Millward Brown Digital discovered a significant gap between how businesses believe they care for customers and how valued consumers actually feel.

While three out of four businesses believe they provide an optimal experience for consumers, just 36 percent of customers in the survey say they feel cared for.

This is pretty common, especially among larger organizations. We find the greater the distance between management and the customer, the greater the discrepancy in understanding consumer needs, experience, and loyalty.

If you are doing employee surveys, we recommend you test perceptions among employees from all levels of authority on how consumers view your customer service and product/service value. Once you have these numbers, compare these results with your customer loyalty surveys and see how closely management is in alignment with the consumer.

Strong and successful organizations are usually in alignment with their customers. Firms on the cusp of trouble typically think they provide an optimal customer experience, while their consumers rate their experiences very differently.

Millward Brown surveyed 1,650 mobile phone users over age 18 in the U.S., U.K. and Australia in September 2014 for Mblox. To see their results, you can get the information from Mblox here.